7 Body Parts You’re Not Washing the Right Way

“You’ve surely heard it before: Wash your hands! But even if you do wash your hands after using the bathroom and before preparing or eating food, you may not be washing them thoroughly enough to prevent the spread of germs. “People should wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, lathering the palms of hands, the backs of hands, between fingers, and under fingernails,” advises Debra Hagberg, MT, CIC, director of clinical affairs for PDI Healthcare, a leader in infection prevention products.

Skimping on hand-washing can allow the spread of germs from person to person and cause yourself and others to become sick. Yet the majority of people still don’t wash their hands as well as they should. “According to a study performed by Michigan State University in 2013, only 5 percent of people out of 3,749 individuals observed in public restrooms performed hand-washing long enough to kill germs,” reports Dr. Hagberg. And not washing long enough wasn’t the only negligent behavior the study found. About a third of the subjects didn’t use soap, and 10 percent didn’t wash at all. “The importance of hand hygiene in public health and global health cannot be understated,” Dr. Hagberg insists.”